Life at boarding school for brothers William and Harry was fairly normal, but there was one particular activity they were banned from participating in on the prestigious Ludgrove campus
Prince William and Harry blended in seamlessly with fellow students at their boarding school, but one activity was strictly off-limits to the pair – and for good reason.
Despite the monumental privilege that comes with being a member of the Royal family, the brothers didn’t exactly have the picture perfect childhood. Marital issues between their parents played out in full view of the public, creating a buzz in newspapers and on TV.
The princes were attending Ludgrove School at the time, where they were enrolled aged eight. This prestigious institution – just a half hour’s drive from Windsor Castle – offers fortnightly boarding opportunities for young boys between 8 and 13. It was here that the headmaster made it his personal mission to shelter the royals from family gossip circulating across tabloids during their stay on campus.
“Ludgrove was extremely good at protecting him and later Harry,” said Dickie Arbiter, who previously worked as the spokesperson for the Queen. “It took them out of troubled waters.”
It meant Ludgrove’s headmaster, Gerald Barber, introduced a restriction on newspapers within the library and monitoring all TV viewing habits of pupils. Only educational content was reportedly allowed for students, and staff members were requested not to leave their copies of newspapers lying around, nor to expose pupils to television screens in their presence.
A former Ludgrove pupil revealed: “The Barbers were more than equipped to deal with the princes. William and Harry weren’t the only members of a royal family to attend the school and they certainly weren’t the only children to come from dysfunctional homes.” Thanks to these efforts, both William and Harry found a sense of security at their prep school, with William feeling particularly thankful for the carefully planned environment.
Royal expert Robert Jobson, in his book ‘William at 40: The Making of a Modern Monarch’, said Prince William enjoyed his time away from the Royal drama while at Ludgrove.
He said: “For William, school was not only fun but a respite from his mother’s increasing tendency to lean on him as an emotional crutch.”
As Princess Diana’s elder son, William often found himself playing the role of her confidant during her divorce. Jobson continued: “She had taken to calling William ‘the man in my life,’ and he did his best to be supportive – once telling her that he wanted to be a policeman so he could protect her. But he was only 10 when his parents officially separated in 1992.”
Diana is believed to have selected Ludgrove School for her sons in a bid to allow them a more normal upbringing. She was convinced that William would be a better king if he could connect with ordinary people. At Ludgrove, William shared a bedroom with four other boys, a vastly different experience to life at Kensington Palace.
